1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a character input device and method for a mobile terminal, and more particularly to a character input device and method for a mobile terminal, which enables users to quickly and conveniently input mixed characters from various text types, such as Korean “Hangeul” characters, upper and lower case English characters, and different fonts or symbols.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, characters such as Korean and English characters can be input, received, and transmitted using a mobile terminal. A conventional mobile terminal has four main modes for inputting characters, i.e., a Korean character mode, an upper case English character mode, a lower case English character mode, and a special character mode. One key of the mobile terminal is assigned as a menu key for conversion between the input modes during the inputting of characters. In order to convert an initial input mode to another input mode, a user must push a number of keys. For example, a user must first press a menu key to enter a mode change mode, scroll through a menu list to find a different mode to covert to, and then select the different mode. After the conversion, the user can input characters in another input mode. In order to return to the initial input mode, the user must repeat the long process again.
When a mobile terminal is used to input characters, the upper and lower case English letter is generally assigned to the keys in such a manner that three or four consecutive letters are collectively assigned to one key and the three or four letters are differentiated according to the number of times the key is input. Special characters are input in such a manner that direction keys, such as up, down, left, and right, are used to select a target special character, and then an OK or confirm key is pushed to input the selected character.
In such a character input method of the prior art, because only one menu key is used to change the input mode, the user must inconveniently push the menu key several times to change the input mode. In addition, in order to input a text of mixed English and Korean letters or upper and lower case English letters, to the user must push, for example, the menu key, a number of times.